


Memory Wipe

by helenumbrella



Series: girls and milk and honey [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: just pain, no relationships - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 07:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9111604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helenumbrella/pseuds/helenumbrella
Summary: cho chang and her inner demons haunt her forever. a little look at what could've happened to cho after the war.





	

**Author's Note:**

> please let me know if you liked it! I've been experimenting with different styles and suddenly got a rush of inspiration for this one character.

Her mother never speaks to her again after the war. It hurts, of course, but Cho has never felt much pain after Cedric died.

She sometimes thinks bitterly that he's taken everything of hers when he died, that she'll be forever known in the history books as the girl Cedric saved in the Second Task, or his old girlfriend, or the girl who kissed Harry Potter when he was meant to be with someone else. She'll never be herself again.

Cho marries the husband her mother brings to her, to mend relations, a muggle named Xiaowei. He's good to her, and at home, they raise two children and teach them how to speak Chinese and English. She always keeps her wand on her, just in case, even though she committed herself to a muggle life. They take vacations to France and Italy and watch shows in their ancient theaters. Nothing happens, even when she finds herself in the middle of a bar fight in Germany, even when someone tries to rob her husband when they're visiting Dubai. She relaxes somewhat, knowing that her past is in her past. It's when the family decides to watch a soccer match in Bulgaria that Cho finds herself at a crossroads.

She accidentally bumps into a stranger when she is getting baby Meili out of her stroller, and automatically reaches for an apology in Chinese. When she straightens, the stranger is trying to apologize as well, but he does it in poor English. Cho Chang meets the eyes of Viktor Krum and her wand is at his throat before he can say another word. Meili is agitated and a couple of bystanders are staring, so she shoves the wand in her back pocket and tries to fold the stroller up as fast as possible. It's all coming back to her, the Triwizard Tournament, Cedric Diggory, Harry Potter, the Second Great War, and she wants out. Viktor reaches for her arm and she wrenches it away from him.

Viktor's eyes widen, ostensibly to say her name, but she pushes away and calls for her husband. Nobody answers. _Damn him_ , Cho thinks, and corrects herself, _damn both of them_. She pulls out her wand and utters words she never thought she would say again: _obliviate_. Viktor's eyes unfocus, then focus again dazily, She runs.

 _Cho's husband is a good man. She will not leave him._ She repeats this as the Wizemgamot file into the court room. They question her on her whereabouts on the 3rd of November. She says she was watching a soccer game in Bulgaria, gives the ticket receipts to the guards on her right. They force her to drink Veritaserum, the nasty liquid only furthers her dread. Right when she finishes the cup, the devil walks in.

Harry Potter is older, his walk more gaited, and he takes his place at the bench. Cho hasn't seen him in years, but she can never forget those torrid green eyes. Her eyes follow him, Cho can never forgive herself for what happened twenty some years ago. She keeps her head bowed and her prayers soft. She had lied yet again, promising her family that she was on a business trip, when all she had wanted to do was flee. The Wizemgamot hurls accusations at her, only dizzying her. The memories flash back faster, Lavender Brown on the floor unconscious, Parvati Patil clutching her open wound, Ernie Macmillan's leg bent and twisted in 20 different angles. She feels nauseous. Harry calls for a break.

Cho finds herself in the line to the loo. Heels clack behind her, making her more and more tired. Cho just heaves when she gets to the toilet. The stall door opens, and someone is wiping her mouth, her face, with a wet tissue. Cho would recognize that hair anywhere. Hermione Granger throws the offending tissue into the trashcan, and pulls Cho up, then pulls out a pencil from her pocket and a piece of crumpled paper. She flattens it against the side of the stall and writes furiously, sending it away after a while. Cho is grateful, and disgusted with herself, but she's too weak to pull herself out of it and leans on the wall heavily. Hermione blinks, and speaks with Cho for the first time in 10 years: "You've been acquitted. You can leave now if you want." Cho doesn't respond, leans her head back against the wall, and thinks of all the times she's made fun of Hermione in school.

A few weeks after the ordeal, a shop in Knockturn Alley called Moribund's receives an interesting visit. The shopkeeper is a little wary, but the woman looks to be at least a half blood, and by the jingling in her purse, seems she has money as well. The woman places 20 galleons on the counter and sits expectantly on the stool. The shopkeeper inquires what the lady wants. _Her eyes are glistening, strangely_ , he thinks, _as many who come here don't pay for their emotions_. Cho Chang throws back her hood and clears her throat: "I'd a like a memory wipe of the year 1995 to 1996." The shopkeeper has never done a memory wipe of that length before, but he asks for specifics anyways. "The school year 1995 to 1996, any memory of Hogwarts, please." Cho lays down another 20 galleons and a slip of paper with an address written on it, "If you would then floo me to this place after you are done with the memory wipe, these additional 20 galleons are yours." The shopkeeper shrugs internally, too afraid to ask what happened during that year, and prepares the ingredients for the memory wipe.

Her last thought is of Cedric, and she curses herself again. _After the wipe_ , she thinks to herself, _I will never be defined by him or Potter ever again._


End file.
